Touchy, Anti-pluralistic Monotheisms

For some reason, at least some adherents of monotheistic religions tend to look down on polytheists and pagans - but why? It seems as though many have the misconception that religion 'evolves upward,' with monotheism being the pinnacle of religious development while paganism lies somewhere down in the dregs of primitive religiosity.

This annoys David Aaronovitch who wrote for the Guardian:

For people with God on their side, monotheists are a touchy lot. ...Why are they so touchy? The problem is partly that all monotheisms are, by their nature, anti-pluralistic. They’ve got the one true God, and the very latest valid version of his thoughts. It is asking a lot of monotheisms to coexist with other faiths and views.

Paganism, on the other hand, is much better suited to modern ideas of tolerance and human rights. Under polytheism you can choose your own god overtly. And it is hard to imagine a group of water-worshippers getting upset because one of their priests was gay. In fact, in shamanistic cultures, homosexuality is much-valued among the holy men.

Of course, not all pagan cultures have been infinitely tolerance and infinitely diverse when it comes to religious worship. Very often religion was treated like a part of politics and, so, one’s religious opinions could influence how they were treated politically. Nevertheless, there does seem to be something about polytheistic paganism which would at least allow for greater diversity in views and, hence, more tolerance for differences of opinion.

 

Read More:

• Critical Thinking
• Religion 101
• Theism 101
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